n

n

n'That... Was really dumb...' Eldrian thought as he recovered and activated 'Turtle', the other ability of Chelona, his breastplate. All that it did was increase the armor rating of the chest piece, but that was where most of the important parts of a person were.

nAlong with this, Eldrian also made sure that that none of the goblins were trying to hurt him. Returning the favor since he didn't particularly want to start a fight while surrounded by nearly thirty goblins.

n'Three goblin knights-' Eldrian watched their retreat questioningly, and once the goblins were out of the first room of the cave, he asked Nikki what had happened.

n

"They just suddenly turned tail, they were fighting despite the heavy losses they were sustaining. Then, suddenly... They decided to run.

"

n

"Do you think it is because I killed the shaman?

" Eldrian asked, but Nikki shook her head.

n

"No, they started running after a cry came from the cave.

"

n

"The Blaidd?

" Eldrian asked and quickly filled them in on what had happened.

nNikki was slightly surprised that Eldrian had managed to fight two Tier 5 monsters. Not so much because he was Tier 4, but rather because spells were being blocked. Which was his speciality.

n

"Now what?

" Judith asked, even as war-hungry as she was, she didn't particularly want to push deeper into a cave filled with an unknown number of goblins.

n

"What are our losses?

" Nikki asked, unfortunately, there wasn't a nice informative system to keep track of this. Outside of knowing who was dead now, which required one to go through the list of all the players who were here.

n

"About fifteen,

" Elizabeth replied,

"Unfortunately, I don't know resurrection yet so we can't revive them here.

"

n

"Let's confirm what else is unknown first.

" Nikki proposed and no one disagreed, so after a bit more discussion the players did their best to secure this first room while also sending someone to report the developments to the Adventurer's Guild.

nThe quest was most certainly much higher than just A-Rank.

n

"Do any of you know what a Folia is?

" Eldrian asked after going through the events a bit and trying to recall everything.

n

"Nope

",

"No idea

",

"No

",

"Ye-yes...

"

nTurning to the voice that had said yes, everyone looked at the NPC in shock.

n

"Tjan, you know what a Folia is?

"

n

"Yes, but... I thought it was extremely rare. How can there be a Folia in Pyknos Forest? And how could it have avoided detection?

"

n

"Is it that serious?

" Therdul asked with a sigh, knowing their luck when going with Eldrian, of course it was.

n'Seriously, what is with him. Has any quest he took part in been normal?' Everyone wondered though some had a far cruder way of thinking this.

n

"Goblins aren't natural creatures, they aren't like other monsters.

" Tjan started to explain.

n

"What do you mean?

" Eldrian asked.

n

"They do not have any females, meaning that their existence relies on taking girls and women of compatible races...

" Tjan paused, knowing full well the horror stories that went along with this fact. The sad part, the more horrific, the less likely for it to be a false story.

n

"Which means they had to be created someway, and if that were the only way they could come into existence, then they would have gone extinct long ago.

" Eldrian concluded,

"So, are you saying this Folia is what creates them?

"

nNaturally, Eldrian had the help of the Goblin Blaidd's description to lead him to this conclusion.

n

"Yes, and if there is a Folia then there is almost certainly going to be more varients and possibly even a goblin king.

"

n

"I guess the title isn't just that...

" Elizabeth joked, trying to lift everyone's mood. Everyone in the guild understood that suddenly the job of not failing the quest had become much much harder.

n

"It isn't, we don't know much about them, but they are at minimum Tier 6 in both magic and close combat,

" Tjan said, wishing to retreat from here right now to secure his own life. Yet, he had sworn to serve Eldrian so he had to stay until Eldrian told him to go.

nAs if reading his worries, or simply thinking of the fact that everyone but Tjan could revive, Eldrian also mentioned this.

n

"I am afraid; But, you said experience is the only way I can truly learn and grow. I didn't get to fight in previously, I can't simply run away.

" Tjan replied, shocking himself. Once given the option, he had found that something stopped him from simply running.

nNodding, Eldrian accepted Tjan's answer. However, he made it clear that if things appeared bleak, then Tjan had to prioritize his survival over helping them. 'I might also need to call on Ceph, I was just about equal in stats compared the shaman and Blaidd, a goblin king...'

n'It will have more stats in all areas... This will be hard, especially if he is ready for us.'

nEldrian could feel the looks from the rest of the group,

"I might be able to buy time against it, but I won't be able to beat it.

"

nEveryone nodded in understanding, Elizabeth quickly springing into action to help everyone get as ready as they could while Nikki informed the player they had sent to relay the information on the development.

n

"What do we do then?

" Judith asked, she might like fighting but she didn't want to lose her precious levels.

nEveryone pondered this, very aware that the longer they waited to do something, the more likely a counterattack was. However, pushing in was not an option. Or so everyone believed.

n

"I'm going in,

" Eldrian said.

n

"Are you crazy?!

"

n

"No, if I can find them undetected, I might have a chance to deal some massive damage.

"

n

"What do you mean?

" Ilmadia asked, and so Eldrian shared the details of Incinerate with them.

nEveryone stared at the spell in awe, looking at Eldrian with a bit of worry.

"Are you sure you will be able to cast it?

"

n

"Not at full strength, but I should be able to cast it. It is just going to take me a while...

"

n

"Then I'm coming with you!

" Therdul said with a confident smile,

"And I know just who else to bring along.

"

n...

nA few minutes later, three players moved past the makeshift defenses that the others had created through a mix of magic and stacking bodies.

n

"Are you sure about this?

" The newby, Kenji, asked. He was a player who loved to play stealth classes in other games and in a similar way as Judith, he was attempting to bring that into ANW.

nAs such, the skills he knew were all focused on being stealthy and fast, while he even knew a few spells to allow him to move in the dark with ease.

nWhere the other two had to walk along while keeping a hand on a wall, Kenji simply walked in the pure darkness.

n

"We need to stop the attack, or at least try. Don't worry, I have a contingency,

" Eldrian replied, his not sharing what it was, did not help Kenji feel at ease.

n{Therdul} - I don't think talking is the best way to talk.

n{Eldrian} - Good point, we'll communicate through chat from here on.

n{Therdul} - How far in do you think we will find the goblins?

n{Eldrian} - No idea...

nAN: Remember to vote to show your support and comment to share your insights!

n